Doctors warn researchers not to ignore adverse reactions to animals and other menacing specimens SAN DIEGO--Who would have thought that a rabbit could send a scientist to the emergency room? Or that butterfly scales would force an entomologist to wonder about his future as a scientist? Or that a Nobel laureate could be seized by a sneezing fit brought on by the subject of her award-winning work? The truth is, it's actually quite common for scientists to suffer allergic reactions to their own

Short of funding, a cell biologist sells her own `BlueGene' T-shirts to finance controversial research on the reovirus DEL MAR, CALIF. -- Scientists who challenge conventional wisdom sometimes must go to great lengths to get recognition for their ideas. So colleagues should not be surprised when they see Ruth Kavenoff at this week's meeting of the American Society of Microbiology (ASM) in Anaheim, Calif., wearing her research on her chest. Kavenoff, a 46-year-old cell biologist, will be recog

SAN DIEGO—The University of California, San Diego, and its affiliate, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, are planning a new center that will combine the basic research skills of Scripps investigators with the medical talents of the university’s school of medicine to unlock the secrets of sea life. The UCSD-Scripps project—details of which are still being worked out—is the latest of several efforts in recent months by institutions intent on forging ahead with new

In a striking move, Emeryville, Calif.-based Cetus Corp. is clarifymg its position on the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the company’s proprietary DNA amplification technology. This action comes after several months of confusion, doubt, and outrage within the scientific community over the firm’s unusual licensing policy for PCR. Since bursting upon the scientific scene less than two years ago, PCR, the process by which scientists can rapidly duplicate strands of DNA in

Tired of being the defenseless targets of animal rights protestors, scientists are fighting back-and winning. SAN DIEGO--In a laboratory at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, Calif., Michael J. Campbell conducts experiments on mice in an attempt to develop a vaccine for deadly B-cell lymphoma. But the 28-year-old biologist is also fighting what he regards as another deadly affliction, this one a threat to science itself. Two years ago, Stanford proposed building a new facility

Pseudomedicine Is A Multibillion Dollar Business In The U.S. On weekends, medical researcher Waflace I. Sampson often leaves his suburban home and drives up the peninsula into San. Francisco. He sees himself as an investigator "his quarry, an epidemic that’s ravaging the City by the Bay." But it’s not the AIDS virus he’s after. Although a hematologist by training, Sampson is hunting tainted medicine, not tainted blood He’s a quackbuster. In recent months, Sampson un

SAN DIEGO-Three U.S. journals still have not published retractions or clarifications on nine articles by Robert A. Slutsky that 18 months ago were declared fraudulent or questionable. One small journal is waiting for its publishing house to obtain permission from Slutsky. A second publication has withdrawn only research retracted by Slutsky himself. The third journal has printed no corrections because neither Slutsky nor his co-authors have requested retractions. All said they feared litigat

{WantNoCacheVal} Panel Backs Journal Retractions Medical journals should print retractions of questioned or fraudulent research even if the lead author or co-authors have not submitted or approved such statements said a top official of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. "Journal editors have a responsibility to keep the scientific record clear," said Edward J. Huth, a physician and North American coordinator for the international committee. Last month the group published

SAN DIEGO—Young scientists unwittingly caught up in scandals over fraudulent research have found the experience to be a drain on their emotions and a stain on their professional careers. Interviews with nearly a dozen researchers whose, names have been linked to some of the best-known cases of fraud revealed that the practice of "gift authorship" has sidetracked academic careers, put federal research grants beyond reach and thrown into question other legitimate studies they have published